Procurement & Bid Package Information

Learn about Wisconsin Association of Housing Authorities

All Public Housing Administration (PHA) purchases must be made within the rules and scope of the PHA policies. Be sure the specific PHA policies are clearly written and followed on every case. If you are in doubt contact the HUD office and also be sure to follow the PHA legal counsel advice. HUD revised and reprinted the “Procurement Handbook for Public Housing Agencies” 7460.8 Revision 2, effective 2 March 2007 and has made it available on line at HUDCLIPS [1]. Be sure you refer to this valuable resource for your Procurement and Contracting questions.

A special case is when procuring the services of an Architect or Engineer. This process is one using Request for Proposals (RFP) and the selection is made solely on the basis of qualifications, not on price.

HUD requires specific procedures to be followed when Federal money is used to purchase material, supplies or services. Also, when the dollar amount is less than $2,000, the PHA does not need to follow the Department of Labor “Davis-Bacon” Wage Rates.

SMALL PURCHASE PROCEDURES – When the amount is less than $25,000, also called “small purchase procedures” see 24 CFR Part 85.36,but in brief, the PHA only needs to follow a limited procurement process involving bid fairness and propriety. Usually if the PHA gets at least three prices and documents these with a letter in the procurement file, the choice of the best price product can be made easily.

FORMAL SOLICITATIONS – Wisconsin State law allows procurement up to $25,000 to be handled by the previous section as Small Purchases and 24 CFR 85.36 contains language where under certain circumstances, this limit can be extended to $100,000, but be careful you know the situation and it is best to contact the HUD Field Office on this if you are not exactly sure about the regulations. For these larger procurement actions the PHA should follow the regulations in 24 CFR 85.36 completely. This includes sealed bidding, public bid announcement, bid selection by defined methods and award to the lowest responsive bidder unless justified by pre-defined performance criteria. The sealed bid process can also be appled to Small Purchase Procedures, so if you are uncertain whether your intended action is above the limit it is usually best to use the sealed bid process.

Whatever action you take be sure to use full written documentation for every step. Any verbal instructions should always be followed up with a letter to confirm the discussion.

Please use the following list when preparing a full bid package for procurement by the sealed bid method: